The Board has remanded the claims for service connection, cause of death, and Dependency and Indemnity Compensation under 38 U.S.C. § 1318 due to insufficient evidence regarding whether the Veteran's cholangiocarcinoma is related to her service at Camp Lejeune.
The deciding factor: The Board found that there was not sufficient medical opinion on the question of whether the Veteran’s cancer may have been caused by exposure to toxins, including volatile organic compounds such as perchloroethylene and trichloroethylene, during her service at Camp Lejeune.
- Claimed conditions
- cholangiocarcinoma
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- Camp Lejeune water
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 7, 2020
- Citation
- 20001165
What this means for you
A remand is not a loss. The Board sent the case back for more development — often a new exam or missing records — before making a final decision. Many remands later end in a grant, and the decision spells out exactly what the Board wanted to see.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Board granted an effective date of November 30, 2016, but not earlier, for the award of service connection for cholangiocarcinoma.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for the Veteran's cause of death, cholangiocarcinoma, based on evidence supporting a direct relationship between the disease and the Veteran's in-service exposure to Agent Orange.
- Remanded (sent back)
The appeal for a survivor's pension was denied due to the appellant's countable income exceeding the maximum annual pension rate. The Board also remanded the issue of service connection for cause of death.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding no evidence that his cholangiocarcinoma was related to his military service or any service-connected condition.
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